Outdoor-recreation advocates are calling on Congress to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which uses a portion of offshore oil and gas production fees to create recreational access to public lands and also supports national, state and local parks. Jayson O’Neill with the Western Values Project says Wyoming’s national parks and public lands programs are stuck in limbo, with roads full of potholes and campground bathrooms in disrepair. Congress permanently reauthorized the fund in March, but the Trump administration’s proposed budget has nearly zeroed out money for the parks and public lands fund. O’Neill says Congress has an obligation to ensure that future generations can access lands managed by the Interior Department and Forest Service.
Wyoming has received more than 130-million dollars from the Land and Water Conservation Fund over the past fifty years to protect places including Grand Teton National Park, the National Elk Refuge and Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.
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